This 1997 special sampling project represents a special radiobiological sampling effort to augment the 1996 Long-Term Hydrological Monitoring Program (LTHMP) for Amchitka Island in Alaska. Lying in the western portion of the Aleutian Islands arc, near the International Date Line, Amchitka Island is one of the southernmost islands of the Rat Island Chain. Between 1965 and 1971, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission conducted three underground nuclear tests on Amchitka Island. In 1996, Greenpeace collected biota samples and speculated that several long-lived, man-made radionuclides detected (i.e., americium-241, plutonium-239 and -240, beryllium-7, and cesium-137) leaked into the surface environment from underground cavities created during the testing. The nuclides of interest are detected at extremely low concentrations throughout the environment. The objectives of this special sampling project were to scientifically refute the Greenpeace conclusions that the underground cavities were leaking contaminants to the surface. This was achieved by first confirming the presence of these radionuclides in the Amchitka Island surface environment and, second, if the radionuclides were present, determining if the source is the underground cavity or worldwide fallout. This special sampling and analysis determined that the only nonfallout-related radionuclide detected was a low level of tritium from the Long Shot test, which …

This annual report describes selected 1999 research accomplishments for the Environmental Dynamics and Simulation (ED and S) directorate, one of six research organizations in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). These accomplishments are representative of the different lines of research underway in the ED and S directorate. EMSL is one of US Department of Energy's (DOE) national scientific user facilities and is the centerpiece of DOE's commitment to providing world-class experimental, theoretical, and computational capabilities for solving the nation's environmental problems. Capabilities in the EMSL include over 100 major instrument systems for use by the resident research staff, their collaborators, and users of the EMSL. These capabilities are used to address the fundamental science that will be the basis for finding solutions to national environmental issues such as cleaning up contamianted areas at DOE sites across the country and developing green technologies that will reduce or eliminate future pollution production. The capabilities are also used to further the understanding of global climate change and environmental issues relevant to energy production and use and health effects resulting from exposure to contaminated environments.

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the effectiveness of screening checkpoints at airports, focusing on the: (1) causes of screeners' problems in detecting dangerous objects and the efforts of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to address these problems; and (2) screening practices of selected foreign countries and the potential for using these practices to help improve screeners' performance in the United States."

The purpose of this calculation is to provide a bounding estimate of how thermal-hydrological-mechanical (THM) behavior of rock in the region surrounding an emplacement drift in a Monitored Geologic Repository subsurface facility may affect the permeability of fractures in the rock mass forming the region. The bounding estimate will provide essential input to performance assessment analysis of the potential repository system. This calculation also supports the Near Field Environment Process Model Report (NFE PMR) and will contribute to Site Recommendation. The geologic unit being considered as a potential repository horizon at Yucca Mountain, Nevada lies within a fractured, densely welded ash-flow tuff located in the Topopah Spring Tuff member of the Paintbrush Group. Fractures form the primary conduits for fluid flow in the rock mass. Considerable analysis has been performed to characterize the thermal-hydrologic (TH) behavior of this rock unit (e.g., CRWMS M&O 2000a, pp. 83-87), and recently the dual permeability model (DKM) has proved to be an effective tool for predicting TH behavior (CRWMS M&O 2000a). The DKM uses fracture permeability as a primary input parameter, and it is well known that fracture permeability is strongly dependent on fracture deformation (Brown. 1995). Consequently, one major unknown is how deformation …

The Carrier Preparation Building Materials Handling System receives rail and truck shipping casks from the Carrier/Cask Transport System, and inspects and prepares the shipping casks for return to the Carrier/Cask Transport System. Carrier preparation operations for carriers/casks received at the surface repository include performing a radiation survey of the carrier and cask, removing/retracting the personnel barrier, measuring the cask temperature, removing/retracting the impact limiters, removing the cask tie-downs (if any), and installing the cask trunnions (if any). The shipping operations for carriers/casks leaving the surface repository include removing the cask trunnions (if any), installing the cask tie-downs (if any), installing the impact limiters, performing a radiation survey of the cask, and installing the personnel barrier. There are four parallel carrier/cask preparation lines installed in the Carrier Preparation Building with two preparation bays in each line, each of which can accommodate carrier/cask shipping and receiving. The lines are operated concurrently to handle the waste shipping throughputs and to allow system maintenance operations. One remotely operated overhead bridge crane and one remotely operated manipulator is provided for each pair of carrier/cask preparation lines servicing four preparation bays. Remotely operated support equipment includes a manipulator and tooling and fixtures for removing and installing …

This document will develop a radionuclide distribution for the sludge fraction of sludge-contaminated waste stored in High Level Waste Tanks 40, 42 and 51 in accordance with the methodology outlined in WAC 2.02 (Rev. 4). A single, comprehensive characterization for supernate has been developed previously (Reference 5). This distribution is based on the assumption that sludge-contaminated waste from tanks 40, 42 and 51 may be co-mingled, and the actual contamination present on waste in a series of containers from these tanks will be representative of the mean radionuclide distribution. This document also describes the methodology for application of radionuclide distributions representative of the sludge and supernate fractions of sludge-contaminated waste to individual waste packages.

Among the civil service retirement issues addressed in bills introduced thus far in the 106th Congress are the correction of retirement coverage errors for federal employees assigned to the wrong retirement system; immediate eligibility for federal employees to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); improved portability of pension benefits; and repeal of the temporary increase in employee retirement contributions that was mandated by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Other bills would expand TSP eligibility to include members of the armed services; improve pension coverage for temporary and part-time federal employees; and designate several categories of federal employees as law enforcement officers for purposes of determining their retirement benefits.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed proposed revisions to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to clean up polluted waters, focusing on: (1) the reasonableness of EPA's economic analyses for the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act; and (2) whether EPA's determinations under the two proposed regulations were adequately supported."

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This report describes the control decisions for flammable gas hazards in double-contained receiver tanks (DCRTs) made at control decision meetings on November 16, 17, and 18, 1999, on April 19,2000, and on May 10,2000, and their basis. These control decisions, and the analyses that support them, will be documented in an amendment to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) (CHG 2000a) and Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) (CHG 2000b) to close the Flammable Gas Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ) (Bacon 1996 and Wagoner 1996) for DCRTs. Following the contractor Tier I review of the FSAR and TSR amendment, it will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) for review and approval.

This report describes the control decisions for flammable gas hazards in waste transfer systems (i.e., waste transfer piping and waste transfer-associated structures) made at control decision meetings on November 30, 1999a and April 19, 2000, and their basis. These control decisions, and the analyses that support them, will be documented in an amendment to the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) (CHG 2000a) and Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) (CHG 2000b) to close the Flammable Gas Unreviewed Safety Question (USQ) (Bacon 1996 and Wagoner 1996). Following the Contractor Tier I review of the FSAR and TSR amendment, it will be submitted to the US. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of River Protection (ORP) for review and approval. The control decision meeting on November 30, 1999 to address flammable gas hazards in waste transfer systems followed the control decision process and the criteria for control decisions described in Section 3.3.1.5 of the FSAR. The control decision meeting agenda, attendance list, and introductory and background presentations are included in Attachments 1 through 4. The control decision discussions on existing and other possible controls for flammable gas hazards in waste transfer systems and the basis for selecting or not selecting specific controls are summarized in …

The main purpose of this document is to describe the thermal energy balance used in the USNT module of the NUFT code (Nitao, 1998) and its derivation. We also address several specific issues that have arisen within the Yucca Mountain Project.

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Food Stamp Program and its state activities to increase older Americans' participation and the number of elderly food stamp participants in each state."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed economic assistance provided by the United States under the Compact of Free Association, focusing on the: (1) use of the Compact funding by the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; (2) progress made by both nations in advancing economic self-sufficiency; (3) role of Compact funds in supporting economic progress; and (4) amount of accountability over Compact expenditures."

The authors summarize a Dyson-Schwinger-equation-based calculation of an extensive range of light- and heavy-meson observable, characterized by heavy-meson leptonic decays, semileptonic heavy-to-heavy and heavy-to-light transitions--B {yields} D*, D, {rho}, {pi}; D {yields} K*, K, {pi}, radiative and strong decays--B*{sub (s)} {yields} B{sub (s)}{gamma}; D*{sub (s)}{gamma} and the rare B {yields} K*{sub {gamma}} flavor-changing neutral-current process. In the calculation the heavy-quark mass functions are approximated by constants, interpreted as their constituent-mass: {cflx M}{sub c} = 1.32GeV and {cflx M}{sub b} = 4.65 GeV.

The effect of thermal treatment during and after growth of InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) structures was studied. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy confirmed the presence of interacting QDs, as was expected from analysis of temperature dependence of QD photoluminescence (PL) peak. The results indicate that the effect of post-growth annealing can be similar to the effect of elevated temperature of capping layer growth. Both, these thermal treatments can lead to a similar In and Ga interdiffiusion resulting in a similar blue-shift of QD PL peak.

Battelle received five samples from Hanford waste tank 241-AP-101, taken at five different depths within the tank. No visible solids or organic layer were observed in the individual samples. Individual sample densities were measured, then the five samples were mixed together to provide a single composite. The composite was homogenized and representative sub-samples taken for inorganic, radioisotopic, and organic analysis. All analyses were performed on triplicate sub-samples of the composite material. The sample composite did not contain visible solids or an organic layer. A subsample held at 10 C for seven days formed no visible solids. The characterization of the 241-AP-101 composite samples included: (1) Inductively-coupled plasma spectrometry for Ag, Al, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Nd, Ni, P, Pb, Pd, Ru, Rh, Si, Sr, Ti, U, Zn, and Zr (Note: Although not specified in the test plan, As, B, Be, Co, Li, Mo, Sb, Se, Sn, Tl, V, W, and Y were also measured and reported for information only) (2) Radioisotopic analyses for total alpha and total beta activities, {sup 3}H, {sup 14}C, {sup 60}Co, {sup 79}Se, {sup 90}Sr, {sup 99}Tc as pertechnetate, {sup 106}Ru/Rh, {sup 125}Sb, {sup 134}Cs, {sup 137}Cs, {sup …

Microstructure and thermal stability of ZrN/ZrB2 bilayer deposited on GaN have been studied using transmission electron microscopy methods (TEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). It has been demonstrated that annealing of the contact structure at 1100 C in N2 atmosphere does not lead to any observable metal/ semiconductor interaction. In contrast, a failure of the integrity of ZrN/ZrB2 metallization at 800 C, when the heat treatment is performed in O2 ambient has been observed.

This report provides background information regarding the especially high gasoline prices in the upper Midwest during the late spring and early summer of 2000. While the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the possibility of collusion, several identifiable factors have contributed to this localized situation. Contributors to the higher prices appear to be problems at two pipelines supplying the area with gasoline, the use of ethanol-only reformulated gasoline in Chicago and Milwaukee, and the high price and low supply of crude oil. The crude oil situation has uniform nationwide impact. Wholesale prices in the Chicago spot market began to decline during the week of June 19 and have fallen by 40 cents per gallon at this writing. This report will be updated as events warrant

The Circum-Pan-Pacific Riken Symposium on High Energy Spin Physics was held at Oukouchi Memorial Hall in Riken from November 3 through 6, 1999. It was held as a joint meeting of the 2nd Circum-Pan-Pacific Symposium on High Energy Spin Physics and the 3rd of the series of Riken Symposia related to the RHIC-SPIN. The 1st Circum-Pan-Pacific Symposium on High Energy Spin Physics was held at Kobe in 1996 and the RHIC-SPIN Riken Symposia had been held every two years since 1995. As Prof. Ozaki mentioned in his talk at the beginning of this meeting, the RHIC was ready for the first beam, physics experiments scheduled in 2000, and the RHIC-SPIN would start in 2001. It was therefore considered to be very timely for the researchers in the field of high energy spin physics to get together, clarifying the present status of the field and discussing interesting and important topics as well as experimental subjects to be pursued. It is especially important for the success of the RHIC-SPIN project that the researchers in the neighboring countries surrounding the Pacific are actively involved in it. This is why the above two series were joined in this. symposium. The subjects discussed in the …

The scope of this analysis will be to develop the conceptual design of the closure seals and their locations in the Subsurface Facilities. The design will be based on the recently established program requirements for transitioning to the Site Recommendation (SR) design as outlined by ''Approach to Implementing the Site Recommendation Baseline'' (Stroupe 2000) and the ''Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document'' (CRWMS M&O 1999b). The objective of this analysis will be to assist in providing a description for the Subsurface Facilities System Description Document, Section 2 and finally to document any conclusions reached in order to contribute and provide support to the SR. This analysis is at a conceptual level and is considered adequate to support the SR design. The final closure barriers and seals for the ventilation shafts, and the north and south ramps will require these openings to be permanently sealed to limit excessive air and water inflows and prevent human intrusion. The major tasks identified with closure in this analysis are: (1) Developing the overall subsurface seal layout and identifying design and operational interfaces for the Subsurface Facilities. (2) Summarizing the general site conditions and general rock characteristic with respect to seal location and describing the …

This interim report summarizes the results of toxicity tests, Toxicity Identification Evaluations, and chemical analyses that have been conducted on SRS's NPDES Outfall X-08 and its contributing waste streams between November 1999 and June 2000.

One of the founders of radiation physics and chemistry, Platzman (1918--73) taught us elements of our current understanding such as the hydrated electron, the basic theory of the yield of ions and other initial product species, and the importance of the oscillator-strength spectrum. In addition to all this seen in the literature, he left many unpublished materials, some of which contain stimulating thoughts and valuable ideas for experimental and theoretical work in the twenty-first century.

Neutronics analysis has been performed to assess the shielding requirements for the insulators and final focusing magnets in a modified HYLIFE-II target chamber that utilizes pre-formed plasma channels for heavy ion beam transport. Using 65 cm thick Flibe jet assemblies provides adequate shielding for the electrical insulator units. Additional shielding is needed in front of the final focusing superconducting quadrupole magnets. A shield with a thickness varying between 45 and 90 cm needs to be provided in front of the quadrupole unit. The final laser mirrors located along the channel axis are in the direct line-of-sight of source neutrons. Neutronics calculations were performed to determine the constraints on the placement of these mirrors to be lifetime components.